


Squad X-W

by dragonyfox



Series: The Chronicles of the Wendigo Kids [2]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: AU, F/M, Multi, half-wendigoes, idiot teenagers, mentions of cannibalism, mild x-files crossover, the working title for this one is "those creepy wendigo kids"
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-24 00:12:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4897702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonyfox/pseuds/dragonyfox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the eight survivors have to suffer through drama, politics, and the fun-police. </p><p>Sequel to "The One Where They Aren't Saved At Dawn"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Jesus Christ in a tinfoil hat, what have we gotten ourselves into?” Mike asked after just six weeks into their 20-week training course.

The trip to Quantico, Virginia had been an easy one, once they busted Ashley out of her house. Her parents had thrown a huge fit when she told them she was leaving to join the FBI and had grounded her. She, in response, slipped out of her window and to Chris’ car, and stayed at his house until they left.

“You’re being a baby,” Sam responded disdainfully. “Eat your lunch before it gets cold.”

Once at the FBI Academy, they had tried to be friendly with their fellow classmates. Unfortunately, none of their classmates seemed to like them at all. Wolfie scared them, and Jess’ uncanny ability to know exactly where everyone is in the room, even though she was legally blind, spooked them the worst, aside from Josh’s face.

“I still can’t believe we were blackmailed into this,” Emily complained.

She had tried the hardest to make new friends. She still didn’t trust Mike or Josh, and her friendships with Jess and Ashley were strained. Her classmates had been the most openly cruel to her specifically, since she tried so hard, and never bothered to hide their disgusted glares. She gave up after just a few days.

“Well, at least we’re not fugitives,” Matt offered.

Mulder and Scully had kept their promise, and their paychecks were already coming in. They had secured spots for all of them in various units, and had specially requested that they be kept together as much as possible. None of the eight survivors were sure how the Agents had done this, but sticking together had kept the worst of their classmate’s disdain away.

“At least the classes themselves are fun,” Josh said with a grin, “who knew my love of movie-making would come in handy? I swear I aced that test with a 100 percent in our video services course.”

Josh, and Jess were taking courses on technology; their plans had Josh and Jess becoming their base operators. Ashley was taking an intensive course on first aid. Emily, Matt, and Sam weren’t specializing, but they were putting the most effort into physical training. Mike and Chris _had_ taken on a specialization: demolition.

“Oh, speaking of classes, did you all see the video I sent to the skype chat?” Chris asked excitedly. “Me and Mike got to play with the big kids, and our teacher commended us on our destruction skills!”

In a fit of bad humor, Josh had made their skype group name ‘weirdo wendigo kids’. Nobody had gotten around to changing it, not even Emily, who complained about it frequently.

“You scared the hell out of me with that, Christopher!” Ashley scolded. “You were too close to the explosion! You could have caught fire!”

Still, the ostracization from their fellow classmates had served to bring them closer together than ever before. Emily and Chris were the most vocal whenever someone started bullying them. Not that many did- the eight of them were rather intimidating.

Jess wore all of her scars proudly, frequently wearing low cut shirts to show off the pale, raised lines across her chest. Wolfie, who was always at her or Mike’s heels, probably didn’t help. Mike had taken waving with his left hand, which showed off his missing fingertips. Josh did not wear his scars proudly, but he also didn’t cover them up once his parents had paid to have his teeth and cheek fixed by a rather frightened dentist and surgeon. They reminded him of how close he came to becoming a complete monster.

Ashley, Sam, and Matt were the quietest of their circle, which almost made them the scariest. It’s always the quiet ones, right? Most also thought that Sam’s teeth and Ashley’s nails were artificial, and kept their distance from that alone.

On the opposite side of that spectrum, Chris, Mike, and Emily were the loudest, and rarely censored themselves. The three of them were frequently called into various professors’ offices for mixed scolding and praise for their work. Mulder and Scully had pulled some serious strings to keep them from getting kicked from the course at any point.

All eight of them, even those who were still upset about being conscripted, deeply appreciated the support.

There _was_ a small group of their classmates that took their presence as a challenge. There were six of them, and all six fully believed that something was _wrong_ with the eight survivors and that, since nobody else seemed inclined, it was their job to out their secrets and get them removed from the Academy.

“Hey, look, it’s the freaks!”

Sam smiled toothily at one of them as he approached. “Hello, Preston.”

He sneered. “So what’s your backstory today? You all fought a bear? Zombies?”

The first time someone had asked them how they got their scars, Ashley had accidentally told the truth. Of course, nobody believed her. Ever since then, they had taken to changing up the story every so often.

“Actually, we fought off a pack of Kappas,” Chris piped up, “mean little buggers, let me tell you.”

The girl to Preston’s left rolled her eyes. “Why won’t you tell the real story? Do you _enjoy_ being outcasts? If you’d just tell the damn truth, people would talk to you!”

 “You can keep thinking that, Michelle,” Emily replied dismissively. “We already told the real story.”

“Oh? And which one’s that?” a third, heavier set boy asked.

Mike grinned. “Now, that would ruin the fun of trying to figure it out, wouldn’t it, Scotty-boy?”

Scott glowered. “You’re lucky the PT teach won’t pair you lot with us, or I’d kick your fucking ass, Mikey-boy.”

Mike’s grin didn’t waver. “You want to bet? I can ask the PT teach to pair us for a round. Just one, though. I wouldn’t want to kill you, you know. That might get me yelled at.”

“You’re on, Munroe!”

Ashley groaned when they walked away. “Guys, do you have to antagonize them? Mike, what happens when they realize there’s no biological way you can be as strong as you are? You’re going to get us all lynched!”

“Relax, Ash.” Mike waved his hand idly. “I’ll go easy on the bastard. He’s strong, but I’ve seen Kelly put him on the ground. I’ll have no troubles doing the same.”

“If only I could beat the shit out of Kelly, though,” Sam said wistfully. “If she interrupts me one more time in weapons training, I swear…”

Ashley groaned. “Ugh, I know what you mean. Lucy does that to me in First Aid.”

“Ladies, ladies, calm down,” Matt said, “we’re here to learn shit that will keep us from dying when we go back. That said, if Michelle and her slob of a boyfriend make one more monkey noise at me during the obstacle course, I’m going to show them how freakish we can be.”

Josh winced.

“Not that being a freak is a bad thing,” Matt continued almost casually, “I mean, aside from the mental trauma and the scars, it’s kinda cool being able to parkour all over the place!”

“I’m still jealous of you for that,” Chris complained. “I just got taller and clumsier! You get to act like you’re in Assassin’s Creed! It’s just not fair...”

Mike stifled a laugh.

“How did we get to the point of joking about this?” Emily asked, befuddled.

“Laughter is poison to fear,” Josh answered.

Mike groaned. “Josh, you can’t just quote Game of Thrones like that! When did you even start watching that?”

“I read the book, I’ll have you know!”

Mike gave him a skeptical look. “You, the movie nerd, read a book. Sure. I’ll believe that when I see it, Mr. Washington.”

“Hey fuck you! Cochise, back me up!”

Chris tapped his chin thoughtfully. “You know, I can’t remember the last time I saw you with a book, either…”

Josh glowered. “You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, asshole.”

“Whoa, whoa, I’m kidding, bro, I swear!” Chris protested.

Josh turned his head away from him. “Too late. Ashley, back me up!”

Ashley giggled. “Chris, you’re stuck on the couch tonight. That was really dumb of you, sweetheart.”

Chris crossed his arms over his chest and pouted the rest of their lunch break.

 

 Mike disappeared briefly before Physical Training class began, and when he reappeared, he was grinning widely and rocking on his heels impatiently.

Matt stared at him. “You didn’t…”

“I did!”

“You’re going to kick his ass,” Sam said, determined, “and then I’m going to kick yours. Salt in the wound.”

“Don’t encourage him!” Ashley scolded.

“Too late, already encouraged,” Mike replied, still grinning.

The instructor’s voice boomed across the room, “Scott Jenson, Michael Munroe, pair up!”

Mike turned his grin to Scott. Scott frowned, and tensed up. Mike’s grin was rather unnerving, and the shark-like smile of Sam just behind him probably didn’t help.

“This is just going to make them worse,” Ashley moaned. “They’re gonna know for sure after this.”

“Relax,” Chris said soothingly, “we’ll be fine. Remember that we can’t get kicked out and even if we did, this is only a formality. Let Mike kick this asshole’s butt and don’t worry so much.”

Ashley scowled at him. “You’re still kicked out of the bed tonight.”

“Damn.”

Mike, meanwhile, was shaking hands with Scott. It was supposed to be a gesture of friendliness, the instructor insisted, but Scott had no defense for Mike’s crushing grip. Mike’s grin never wavered.

“This is going to be a three point match,” the instructor said, “since I know you boys are only doing this because you hate each other and need to get it out of your system. Go!”

Scott lunged, and Mike slid out of the way well in time. He turned the slide into an attack, and essentially fell on top of Scott, pinning him easily with his weight.

“Point!”

Mike let Scott stand.

This time, Scott did nothing, and waited for Mike to start. Unfortunately, Mike was far more practiced in standing still. How couldn’t he be, after the month he spent on a wendigo-infested mountain?

Soon enough, Scott grew impatient, and took a swing at Mike’s chest. Mike took it, and brought his elbow down harshly against Scott’s ear. Scott stumbled to the floor, dazed.

“Point!”

Jess wolf-whistled. Mike turned and flexed his arm at her, winking.

Scott took advantage of his distraction, and tackled him to the ground. Mike’s head bounced on the soft padding, and he snarled, kicking Scott away.

“No point,” the instructor warned. “Munroe recovered in time.”

Scott gave the instructor a withering glare, and launched himself at Mike one last time. His forehead connected with Mike’s nose, and even with his enhanced constitution, Mike’s nose started to bleed.

“Point! Two to one.”

“Finish him, Mike!” Sam shouted.

“Will the peanut gallery please pipe down?” The instructor asked irritably.

This time, Mike attacked, and popped Scott in the ribs one, and then head-butted him in retaliation. Scott crumbled, gasping for breath and clutching his forehead.

“Point! Munroe is the winner! Now that the spectacle is over, will you lot get back to actually practicing? I swear, you’re all a bunch of children.”

Sam, ever true to her word, paired up with Mike. Scott watched, dismayed, as she thrashed him time and again. Mike enjoyed fighting Sam, because she was ruthless and always gave him ideas to use later on, and grinned the entire time even as blood from his nose dripped between his teeth.

 

Unfortunately, Ashley was right. Beating Scott only convinced him and his friends further that there was something very wrong with the eight survivors.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im gonna admit right now: all my knowledge of how the FBI functions comes from the hannibal movies and tv series and the x-files. please suspend any disbelief if you know more than i do for now.

The Douche Canoe Crew- Mike came up with the nickname and it stuck- grew more and more persistent in trying to reveal the survivor’s secrets. Scott Jenson and Preston Green loudly claimed that they had to be taking steroids, because there was no way they should be that strong. Kelly Brown and Lucy Collier insisted that Ashley and Sam were cheating on a regular basis. Zach Morrison and Michelle Grace constantly taunted them, hoping that eventually, the survivors would get frustrated and just spill their secrets.

Luckily, when if one of the survivors was pissed off, two more were there to be keep them from doing something incredibly stupid. Ashley and Matt dreaded the day when the Douche Canoe Crew figured out that they’d have a better chance of starting a brawl if they all teamed up.

“Why don’t they just leave us alone?” Josh asked quietly one night. “Are we really that awful to be around that- that they want us kicked out? I mean, not that we wanted to be there in the first place, but…”

Chris draped himself across Josh’s lap. “They’re just dicks, bro. they have nothing better to do in their lives than to fuck with us. It’s pretty sad, if you think about it.”

“Look, let’s not worry about them right now, alright?” Jess said loudly, “let’s just put on a movie I’ve seem a million times and have a good, old-fashioned puppy pile. This time, with popcorn and soda enough to make us sick.”

“Lady and the Tramp!” Ashley demanded.

“Lion King!” Chris shot back.

Josh wiggled his eyebrows. “Free Willy?”

Jess snickered. “No, let’s watch The Winter Soldier.”

“Our leader has spoken!” Mike said solemnly, and stood to put it in.

He paused, and gave the quickly-formed puppy pile a concerned look. “Is anyone going to be upset with the explosions and the whole Bucky thing? Josh?”

Josh scoffed. “Nah, it might freak me out a little, but I love this movie! Put it on!”

“Put it on! Put it on!” Chris and Ashley chanted.

Mike threw up his hands. “God, I’m trying to be nice and prevent panic attacks, and I’m getting attacked for it! See if I ever do that again! Jerks…”

Laughter rang in the air. None of them took his good-natured complaints seriously. He’d already told them he was going to stop asking months ago, and never failed to ask anyway.

 

Twelve weeks of torment passed. The survivors endured as best they could, constantly reminded of why they were there in the first place: blackmail.

Every month, the eight of them went back home. Josh’s parents paid for everything; they may not fully believe them about what happened, but they knew trauma when they saw it and they were very desperate not to lose their only living child. Since Josh was clearly more stable with all of his friends around, his parents never complained about shipping them all back and forth.

Most of their parents agreed with the Washingtons. They thought that their kids had been tricked, and Mike’s dad thought they were downright lying to save face. Only Ashley’s parents believed them about the wendigoes; Ashley had inherited her vivid imagination from both of her parents. It had been why they had tried to keep her from leaving. They didn’t want their only daughter to die via human-eating monsters.

That month, when Josh had asked his parents to install Wi-Fi at the cabin on Blackwood, they were confused.

“Why would you ever want to go back there?” his mother asked, “after all that happened?”

“Yeah, I mean, some awful things happened there,” Josh admitted, “but like, lots of really cool things too. Chris and Ashley finally made out up there. And then they invited me in. I mean, that’s a pretty big thing right there. But also, remember playing baseball with me and- and Beth and Hannah?”

They softened at that memory. “Alright. We’ll have Wi-Fi installed up there. When are you going back?”

“After training,” Josh answered, wrapping his parents in a hug. “Thanks, mom, dad. I- We really appreciate it, I swear.”

His dad ruffled his hair. “Well, we love you. And whatever makes you happy, makes us happy. If you want to go back to Blackwood Mountain, who are we to stop you? Just- please be careful, son. We already lost your sisters. We don’t want to lose you too.”

Chris, who had watched the whole exchange play out, immediately noticed Josh’s discomfort. “Hey, Josh, bet you can’t beat my Pokémon team!”

Josh spun around angrily, but there was gratefulness in his eyes. “Oh, Cochise, you did _not_ just say that. I’m gonna kick your ass!”

“More like _kiss_ it once I’m done trouncing you!”

“Bro,” Josh said, his voice dropping quiet and low so his parents wouldn’t hear, “if you wanted that, all you had to do was ask.”

Chris flushed red.

“Are you two flirting without me?” Ashley called from the living room.

“Yes, dear!” Josh called back, since Chris was still recovering from his flirting. “Would you like us to come to you to continue?”

“You don’t have to, but it would be nice!”

“You’re a jerk, Josh,” Chris mumbled. “Catching me by surprise like that…”

Josh winked and led the way to the living room. “But it’s so fun! Anyway, you still can’t beat my Pokémon team. Honestly, how dare you even suggest you could? I have the greatest team!”

“It’s all Eevees!” Chris protested, following behind him.

“You’re both dorks,” Ashley told them when they finally squeezed onto the loveseat on either side of her.

Josh and Chris exchanged glances, grinned, and kissed both of her cheeks.

“Stop!” she laughed. “I’m trying to pay attention to the movie!”

The boys relented, and the rest of the night passed quietly. They were returning to Virginia in the morning, and all eight of them were taking advantage of being away from their classmates. Jess and Mike were holed up at her house, Matt was spending time with his family, and Emily and Sam were taking the night to enjoy being able to be alone and safe at the same time.

 

When classes started up again on Monday, none of them were prepared for what the Douche Canoe Crew had done.

The whole event kicked off at lunch, when Kelly stood up on a table, and cleared her throat. “I have an announcement about certain classmates of ours. I recently learned some things that they don’t want anyone to know-!”

Eight hearts froze in eight chests.

“Miss Brown, get off of that table this instant,” one of the instructors shouted. “This dining hall is provided to students who wish to eat without leaving campus, not for students who wish to reveal their classmate’s secrets illegally!”

None of them could believe their luck. Instructors only occasionally ate in the dining hall, and for one of them to be there just in time to rescue them?

“But they’re the ones-!” Kelly tried to protest.

The instructor interrupted her. “You are coming with me to the Director’s office, right now. I don’t know what you’re used to, but we do not tolerate this kind of thing on this campus. You’re an FBI trainee, not a sorority girl!”

Sullenly, Kelly went with the instructor.

“Holy shit,” Mike gasped, “that was almost as scary as when I almost died in the lodge.”

Josh moaned and leaned his forehead against Chris’ shoulder. “I feel sick. That was terrifying. What did she do? How did she find out? What did she find out?”

Sam stood grimly. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. The rest of you, stay and eat. I’ll eat at dinner time.”

“Just because we’re hungry less often doesn’t mean you should skip meals!” Ashley protested. “We still don’t know how our- how this works! What if hunger exacerbates things?”

“We’ve skipped meals since returning and haven’t mutated further. Anyway, it looked like Professor Bloom was really booking it, so I’m gonna go catch up,” Sam replied, and walked away before anyone could reply.

Emily stood up as well. “I can’t let her go alone- in case another one of the Douche Canoe Crew is lying in wait to jump her. I wouldn’t put it past those dickholes.”

She caught up with Sam easily. Sam gave her a confused glance, but didn’t slow down. Emily just rolled her eyes and kept close to her side. Sam shrugged and didn’t argue. Arguing with Emily was usually not worth it.

They skid to a stop just outside of the Director’s office, and put their ears against the wall to listen in.

“I hope you understand the severity of your actions,” the Director said. His voice was a little muffled, but the walls were rather thin in the office and the Director was not a soft-spoken man.

“Sir, Jessica is _blind!”_ Kelly all but shouted, “And Joshua has a mental disorder! They shouldn’t even be in the academy in the first place!”

“I am aware, Miss Brown. However, she and her friends have special dispensation. I’ll be frank with you, since you’re a tenacious young lady; those eight kids have sponsors that pulled some serious strings. There are some professors who agree with you, but the agents sponsoring them run a special department. They’ve been trying to get recruits for years, but due to some circumstances, there are special requirements to joining that department.”

“…sir?”

Emily glanced at Sam wildly and whispered, “He’s going to tell her!”

“Shh,” Sam replied, “Ashley said that Scully said we could only get kicked out of the academy if we outright attack someone, we’ll be fine.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about!” Emily hissed, but let the subject drop.

“The classmates you and your friends have been antagonizing are very dangerous. They’re survivors of a very serious accident, involving something the general populous doesn’t believe exists.”

Kelly scoffed. “What, aliens?”

“No. Monsters. Cryptids. Mythical creatures.”

“Wait- so their Fu- weird stories are true?”

“No, just one. Have you ever heard of a creature called a wendigo?”

Sam winced. “Please don’t tell her what we did, please don’t…”

But he didn’t. He simply explained the myth as they had explained it to him. He made no mention of what they did to survive- just that they survived for a month with those things on their asses.

Emily and Sam couldn’t hear what Kelly said after that, she sounded frightened and at least a little apologetic.

“I know. How could you have known? Those kids wanted to keep it quiet for their own reasons. I trust that you will cease your tormenting, and at least make an attempt to stop your friends from it as well?”

“Of course, sir.”

“And you will keep quiet about what I told you, understand? The higher ups don’t like it when the X-Files get publicity of any sort.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You may leave.”

Emily and Sam straightened up, to pretend they hadn’t just been listening in on the entire conversation.

Kelly saw them immediately, and her face twisted. “I- I’m sorry. We were cruel to you, and we didn’t know about the circumstances. I’m going to try to get the rest of them to quit, now that I know. I’m so sorry.”

Emily scowled, and said nothing.

“We accept your apology,” Sam replied graciously. “We’re not forgiving you, but as long as you quit fucking with us, we’ll be golden. Right, Emily?”

“I may not like Josh or Jess very much right now,” she hissed, “but if you or your fucking friends ever try to use them as a reason to fuck with the rest of us, you’re going to be very, very sorry.”

Kelly blanched, but nodded hurriedly.

The director’s secretary coughed pointedly. “You two can come in now.”

While Kelly slunk off, Sam and Emily entered the Director’s office and stared at him shamelessly.

He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know you two listened in.”

“We did,” Sam confirmed.

“I understand why,” he said, “I really do. But next time, don’t press your faces to the wall. I’d have been more than willing to tell you exactly what I told her. I am capable of discretion.”

Emily and Sam exchanged glances.

“She broke into the clinic, and found your medical records. Including the incident report after you were found. She knows that Jessica is legally blind, and that Josh his a clinical diagnosis for a mental disorder.” The Director sighed again and added, “If it makes you feel better, I only told her what little I was told. Scully was very clear in her terms: you eight are given places in the academy, and she and Mulder would work for us for a semester. The details aren’t important.”

Sam nudged Emily.

“Thank you,” Emily said in that polite tone students across the world use when speaking to teachers, “for not prying too much. It was a very traumatic event for all of us, and we’ve been trying to keep it all as quiet as possible. We didn’t even want to be here, but all of our professors have been very graceful about everything.”

The Director nodded. “I know of the circumstances of you coming here. I spoke to all of the professors personally before you arrived. They should be treating you like any other trainee, I hope?”

Sam nodded. “Yes sir.”

He waved at the door. “You’re dismissed. If they continue to give you trouble, come directly to me, and I will sort things out. Hopefully, Miss Brown will sort them out herself, but if not…”

Sam smiled. “Thank you very much, sir.”

The two of them left, and returned to their friends quickly to spread the good news.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres more handwaving in this chapter, and please, please ignore that blackwood mountain is in canada. 
> 
> also this chaps kinda slow but it should pick up next chapter bc they're going BACK next chap.

Kelly had immediately backed off with her tormenting, and Preston and Zach had followed her. However, with half of their crew gone, Michelle, Scott, and Lucy upped the ante: the taunts came nonstop, and the three frequently tried to sabotage the survivors’ work. Their only freedom was during the weekends, when they could hole up in their shared apartment or leave for Los Angeles. 

It finally reached its peak and downfall during their seventeenth week, and it began in the women’s locker room.

Emily, Jessica, and Sam were quick about changing clothes for the obstacle course, and were usually one of the first out of the locker rooms. Ashley wasn’t as graceful when changing, and had fallen over the one time she had tried to hurry and keep up with them. So, instead of keeping up with Emily and Jess, Sam stayed with her, since none of them trusted their classmates.

They were one of the last ones left in the locker room that day, and Michelle and Lucy pounced on them.

“So, today you’re going to spill your secrets,” Lucy said conversationally, as she and Michelle tried to back them into a corner. “You’re going to tell us exactly how you got into the academy, and what fucked up secret you’re hiding.”

“And how you tricked Kelly into siding with you,” Michelle added.

“We’re not telling you shit,” Sam snapped, unmoving.

“We didn’t do anything wrong!” Ashley cried, “What have we ever done to you to make you think we have? We just want to pass our classes so we can get to our assignment!”

Lucy loomed over her. “I think you’re lying about doing something wrong. We broke into the clinic after Kelly got busted, and your records were _redacted_. The whole damn thing! What kind of trainee has redacted medical records? You’re hiding something, and we want to know what!”

Sam grit her teeth. “Look, we are not obligated to tell you anything, and we have been trying very hard to be as nice as possible. Please move out of the way.”

Lucy and Michelle smiled at each other, and squared their shoulders. “No.”

Ashley retreated behind Sam. Sam barely noticed- the rage she had repeatedly squashed down since arriving in Virginia was starting to bubble over the pot of her patience.

Instead of attacking them, she screamed.

 

Out in the main gym, a bloodcurdling screech echoed through the air.

The six survivors froze. Josh and Jessica were blank faced, and barely breathing; Emily, Matt, and Mike were looking around the room for the wendigo they heard, while the rest of their classmates jumped out of their skin, cursing like mad.

“What the fuck,” Chris breathed, “what the fuck, I thought they were trapped on the mountain! They’re supposed to be trapped there! How did they get here!?”

“Wait,” Mike said slowly, “that came from the girl’s locker room.”

Jessica snapped from her panic, and bolted, with Emily right behind her.

“Sam,” Matt blurted, “her teeth- I bet the- the thing reached her throat. Her voice box, it has to be her.”

Chris had turned to Josh, and said over his head, “I really hope you’re right.”

 

Emily and Jessica burst into the locker room.

Michelle and Lucy were across the room from Sam and Ashley, cowering. Sam was holding a hand to her throat, staring at the tiled wall with a blank, horrified expression, and Ashley was tugging on her arm to try to get her attention.

“What the hell happened?” Jessica demanded. “Where is it?”

“It was Sam!” Ashley said, “And now she’s freaking out, and I don’t know what do! Sam, Sam, c’mon, it’s gonna be okay, you’re here with me and Jess and Emily, it’s alright!”

Jessica rounded on Michelle and Lucy, exuding menace. “Get. Out.”

They fled the room.

Emily, never one to mince words when actions would suffice, stalked up to Sam, and smacked her once on the cheek.

Sam reeled.

“Are you with us again?” Emily asked calmly.

“That was me,” Sam replied quietly, “I made that sound. I didn’t know I could do that! What other hidden symptoms do we have? Did we stop the transformation or did we just slow it? Are we all going to snap the second we go back?”

Jessica sighed loudly. “Sam, of all the people to freak out like this, I never expected you. We’re going to be fine, you hear me? We’re going to ace our exams, and we’re gonna go wrangle some monsters, and it’s all gonna be fine.”

Someone knocked on the door to the locker room.

“Uh, hey,” Mike’s muffled voice called, “was that Sam? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, that was me. I’m good now,” Sam called back.

“Oh, good. You might want to come out here and tell Josh that, because he’s past the frozen stage and in the ‘Hannah’s gonna get me’ stage.”

Sam shook herself, and left the locker room to assure Josh that they were all fine. Jess was right, she had to be. They’d be fine. If Sam let herself think otherwise, she’d probably go mad from worry alone, and Josh didn’t need another one of his precious people to vanish.

 

Michelle and Lucy must have gotten to Scott before he could retaliate, because he merely gave them distrustful glances, and stayed silent the rest of the semester. The Douche Canoe Crew stuck together, but never spoke a word about the survivors again.

Soon enough, graduation came. It was a loud ceremony, and Josh, Ashley, and Jess all had a hard time sitting through the awards, though they made sure to stand and applaud for each of their friends.

Mike, Chris, Matt, and Sam all received awards for firearms. Mike and Sam also received awards for physical fitness. Jessica, Emily, Josh, and Ashley were given awards for academics. They were rather proud of the balance, since that meant they could break into almost any four-man team and function to the best of their ability.

After they had picked up their badges and guns, they were forced to endure an after party thrown by Josh’s parents at a nearby small restaurant.

“I’m so happy for you!” Sam’s mom cried, hugging her daughter tightly.

“Mom, oxygen!” Sam wheezed.

Mike’s dad smacked his back. “I’m proud of you for doing this, son. I still don’t know what happened on that mountain, but I’m glad you got your shit together.”

“Thanks dad,” Mike replied, grimacing in pain from his three siblings all hugging him at once.

Josh’s mother had enfolded their son and his significant others into a hug, and was bawling wordlessly while Ashley’s parents waited patiently with tears in their eyes for their turn.

Chris’ mom just laughed at his misfortune.

Emily’s parents were misty-eyed, but had refrained from squishing her. Matt’s parents had no such qualms, and were poking and prodding and praising him left and right.

Jessica’s dad had hugged her once, calmly, and gave Wolfie a treat. “Good job kid. I still don’t know how you got into the FBI academy blind, but hell if I ain’t proud of you for it.”

“Thanks dad,” she replied, beaming. “Honestly, it was a cinch. I may have been in tech, but everything I was working with was analogue. I know lots about walkie-talkies and assembling guns now, let me tell you…”

Soon enough, the conversation ended, and the food came out. Their parents had made a silent promise to never interrupt their eating, and turned to each other for conversation, leaving their kids in peace for a moment. After a month on the mountain with no food, none of them took food for granted anymore.

Once the plates were cleared away, Josh’s father asked, “So, what’s your assignment?”

There was a moment’s hesitation as they decided whether to be vague, or answer truthfully.

Eventually, Josh answered, “The X-Files.”

Mike’s dad snorted. “That’s a myth. The X-Files aren’t real.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “Oh not this baloney again. Dad, I’ve told you a hundred times to lay off the extreme conspiracy theory bullshit. The X-Files are real.”

“You’ve told your dad to lay off of conspiracy theories after what happened to us?” Jessica asked incredulously.

“No,” Mike corrected, “I told him to lay off the _extreme_ conspiracy theory bullshit. You know, the kind that say that conspiracies are a conspiracy of another thing. It’s stupid, and he’s going to rot my poor little brothers’ minds.”

“Your brothers’ minds are already rotting from that garbage they play with the gay wizards,” his dad muttered under his breath, “not the gay wizard part, the living rock shit. Why are the rocks alive? How does that even work?”

“Dorian’s a _mage_ , dad, not a wizard!” one of Mike’s brothers protested.

Ashley snickered. “Dorian’s such a sweetheart! He’s my second favorite romance in Inquisition!”

Josh and Chris both spun to look at her in utter dismay and betrayal.

“Since when did you play video games?” Josh demanded, “and when were you going to share this information!? We could have been gaming together all this time!”

Chris’ protest was slightly different: “we could have been talking ships this whole time! Ash, how could you?”

Sam laughed, which set off the rest of their friends.

When they quieted down again, Josh’s mother sniffled, and said, “I’m so happy to see you kids happy again. It’s been so long since you’ve laughed at something silly like this. I just- I’m so glad.”

“It’s not silly!” Chris and Josh said together.

“Alright, boys, settle down,” Ashley said, still giggling, “we can talk about this later when we get home. For right now, I want some of that delicious triple chocolate cake desert.”

Emily scrunched up her nose. “God, you’re going to keel over and die of diabetes before you succumb to anything else. That’s far too much chocolate in one serving. Gross.”

Jess waved her spoon at her. “Now, Emily, don’t be a snob. Just because you don’t like chocolate doesn’t mean you get to make fun of those of us who do.”

“Okay, but really, that is too much chocolate,” Sam agreed.

The rest of the after party was spent bickering over desert choices, and steadfastly ignoring any attempts to steer the conversation to any serious topic.

 

When they finally were able to escape their families and return home, they didn’t bother to separate into their rooms. They had a pull out couch that was frankly larger than a pull out couch ever needed to be, and piled up on that instead.

“You know, most people would think this is weird,” Matt said softly after they’d all settled comfortably. “You know, us all sleeping together.”

“Sounds like the intro to a porno,” Josh joked.

“Jesus, that would be hard to keep track of, though,” Mike interjected, “I mean, eight people all at once? That’d be chaos on the screen. How would that even work?”

“Confession,” Sam interrupted with a hard tone, “I don’t care for sex. You all can talk about this more later, when I’m not here, yeah? Thanks. Also, go the fuck to sleep. We’ve got an awful plane ride to catch tomorrow.”

They quieted down again for a while.

“You know, I bet it would be kind of hot to watch Matt and Mike go at it,” Jess mused. “Or maybe Chris and Mike. No! Josh and Mike! Or even all three together!”

Sam whapped her with a pillow. “Talk about this later!”

Jessica giggled. “Sorry.”

Ashley nudged Jess and winked.

“Hey!” Chris protested, flushing red as a tomato, “don’t be crude. God, I thought it was boys who were supposed to do this kind of shit.”

“Sleep!” Sam insisted. “Guys, c’mon! I know you don’t want to because you want to avoid this as long as you can, but we can’t. Either sleep, or shut up and pretend to. Please.”

 Finally, they quit talking and fell into an uneasy slumber. 


	4. Chapter 4

They procrastinated leaving for a month. Mulder and Scully were very gracious about it, and gave them an assignment: to read over old X-Files cases. It kept the higher ups from getting antsy for a while, but eventually their tickets were bought for them, and they were ordered to pack up and get ready to leave. Most of them were okay right up until the day their flight was scheduled for.

Once they were getting ready to leave for the airport, the only ones able to fake calmness well enough were Sam, Ashley, and Matt. Mike, Chris, and Emily tried, but failed- Mike had started shaking uncontrollably, and couldn’t be trusted to hold things; Chris’ attention span was shot and he could barely focus on the ground in front of him; and Emily kept checking and checking and checking things, until Matt took her duties into his own hands. Jess and Josh were both complete messes- Josh was only just keeping his panic quiet, and Jess went blank, and was being led around by Wolfie.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Matt said after they’d finally finished packing what little was still in their apartment. “Ashley, you keep track of Josh and Chris. Sam, you’ve got Mike and Jess. I’ll take care of Emily and the luggage, okay?”

Ashley nodded.

“Tickets?” Sam asked them all. It was the only thing they’d decided their wrecks of friends absolutely needed to worry about right now.

Everyone held up their ticket envelopes into the air. Mike dropped his and started muttering curses, but Sam picked it up and put it in his jacket pocket for him.

Ashley and Sam started herding their friends to the minivan they’d rented for the day, and Matt hauled down the last of the luggage after them, pausing only to lock their empty apartment for the last time. They’d paid off the rent until their lease ended already, and their landlord was used to FBI trainees living in his building for just a few months at a time, so that was one less thing for them to worry about.

It was a tight squeeze inside the van, but at some point over the past year they’d given up on caring about personal space. Josh, Chris, and Ashley were piled in the seat in the far back, Jess was practically sitting in Mike’s lap in the middle row while Emily was leaning on her. Wolfie was sprawled across all three of their laps with his service dog harness on.

Sam was driving, and Matt called shotgun the second they woke up.

“Alright, guys,” Matt said, twisting in his seat to look at them. “We’re gonna be fine. It’s just a short plane trip, and then a car ride. We’re trained, we’re armed, and it’s gonna be noon when we get to the lod- the cabin. We got this.”

“Fuck yeah,” Chris replied shakily. “We survived the last time. We’re tough as nails. We got this.”

That declaration sparked a nervous cheer.

Matt sat back in his seat, smiling.

“Nice job,” Sam whispered.

He shrugged. “Figured we all needed a pick-me-up. It’s awful enough that we have to go back, I just hope nobody else realizes what day it is.”

Sam paled, and checked her phone. “No…”

Matt nodded grimly. “Yeah. It was an accident- I called Scully when I realized- but it’s still awful.”

“Hey, quit whispering and get this show on the road!” Mike called, faking bravado.

Sam shook herself and started the van. “Alright, hold your horses, Mr. Impatient.”

Suddenly, the three in the back were giggling and red-faced. Sam didn’t ask why, since she knew she’d probably said something unintentionally dirty, and she very much did not want to know what exactly that was.

 

They didn’t have any problems until they were actually boarding the plane, and one of the hostesses raised a small fuss about Wolfie. She wanted documentation that he was a certified service dog. He was; Jessica had gone through classes with him after the third time he followed her out of the house.

Just as Sam was preparing to argue, Matt fished the papers from a waterproof pouch in Wolfie’s vest. “Look, if it’ll shut you up and get us on the plane, here it is, even though we’re not legally required to show you this.”

The hostess examined the paper skeptically, and finally let them board.

They gathered some attention, since Josh was still on the verge of having an episode, and Mike’s uncontrollable shaking had gotten worse the second he’d stepped foot on the plane. All eight of their seats were clumped together with no real order. Jess had traded Mike for his window seat, since flying made him sick and she couldn’t see the clouds go by anyway, and Wolfie lay on top of her feet calmly.

Chris had packed himself several sunflower seed packages, and a zip lock bag for the shells. He was a nervous eater, and an 8 ounce bag of sunflower seeds was decided to be the best snack to pack, since it took up the least amount of space and would last him a reasonably long time. Mulder had gotten him started on them when he’d dropped off some files, once, and now Chris claimed empty bottles left and right to use as shell containers.

The plane ride itself was relatively calm once Sam had slipped Mike half a valium. His shaking had calmed dramatically, which had calmed both Jess and Josh a little. Since those two were calmer, that eased the stress on Ashley and Sam quite a bit. Matt still had his hands full with Emily, but he had the patience for it and calmly repeated the answers to questions she’d already asked him twelve times.

When the plane landed, Mike and Josh had to be halfway carried to the taxis Sam had called for. Chris and Sam were almost as exhausted, and collapsed into their seats gratefully.

"Long ride?" one of the drivers asked sympathetically.

"Long day," Sam replied, "and it’s not going to get any better."

The drive to Blackwood Mountain was calm right up until they caught sight of the cable car station.

Matt got a text from Sam: _were pulling over bc josh is freaking the fuck out._

He leaned over and tapped the taxi driver’s shoulder. “Hey, can we pull over? My friend in the other car is having some issues. We can pay for the meter running.”

The driver shrugged and pulled over just twenty feet in front of the other taxi.

“What’s going on?” Mike asked.

“Josh,” Matt replied, and got out of the car.

Josh was already out on the side of the road, crying and begging with Chris to let him go home.

“Bro, I’m sorry,” Chris repeated, “none of us want to be here, but we have to be.”

Ashley was wringing her hands, and Sam was clearly at a loss.

“What happened?” Matt asked her.

“They were fine not ten minutes ago,” she explained, “and then Josh cracked a joke about a weird-shaped rock we just passed, and then started crying! I have no idea what happened!”

Matt frowned for a minute, then he groaned. “Was it the rock that looked like a pair of boobs?”

Sam furrowed her brows. “Yeah. Why?”

He lowered his voice. “Hannah cracked a joke about that on the way here two years ago. Remember, I had to catch a ride with them because my parents forgot to give me taxi money?”

“Shit,” Sam grumbled, “I had no idea.”

Matt squared his shoulders and crouched in front of Josh. “Hey, Josh. You remember the plan, right? You and Jess are going to be holed up in a safe room that’s already been built, and you’ll have no contact with the wendigoes. And Hannah is dead anyway, including the Wendigo that stole her body.”

Josh stared at him, eyes still wet with tears. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” Matt replied firmly. “She was in the Lodge when Sam exploded it. She’s absolutely dead.”

“Shit,” Josh said, relieved, “why didn’t anybody say so sooner? Half of my stupid anxiety was from thinking she was going to kidnap and murder me the second I stepped foot there again.”

“You didn’t know?” Chris asked, shocked and horrified.

Josh shook his head.

Chris swept him up and hugged him tightly. “I am so fucking sorry, bro! I swear I thought you knew! If I’d have known that you didn’t know, I’d have told you, I promise!”

“I know, Cochise,” Josh said, patting Chris’ back.

Matt stood up. “Alright, now that that’s resolved, let’s get this shit over with, yeah?”

 

The Lodge was completely rebuilt, much to all of their surprise.

“Mom?” Josh said into his phone, “did you have the lodge repaired?”

His phone was on speaker, so they all heard Mrs. Washington’s reply, _“No, honey, we had it rebuilt! There’s even a panic room in the basement. Your father wanted to put it in the Cabin like you asked, but I insisted that the cabin was far too small for eight teenagers to live in comfortably!”_

“Did you make sure the workers knew to only work in the day?” Josh asked, twisting the case on his phone anxiously.

_“Yes, honey. Although, you would not believe the ridiculous explanation for the delays! The foreman said three of his men failed to show up for a whole week, can you believe it? I had to pay so much extra to get them to finish it on time! And then furnishing, ugh, that was a nightmare!”_

They ignored Mrs. Washington’s chattering for a moment, dwelling on her complaint about men going missing.

“We’ve got at least one more to deal with, plus whichever ones weren’t in the explosion,” Sam muttered.

“Cross your fingers Makkapitew didn’t possess him,” Ashley replied solemnly.

_“…Honey, am I on speaker phone?”_

Josh coughed. “Yeah, mom, sorry. My hands are a bit full, is all. Can you email me the names of those workers that went missing? Just in case they, you know, fell in the mines.”

Mrs. Washington gasped. _“Oh, no! I hadn’t even considered the possibility… yes, hon, I’ll email you the report as soon as I get home. Are you kids doing alright up there, though? We’re all so worried about you, after what happened these past two years…”_

“We’re fine, mom,” Chris said, mimicking Josh’s lisp vaguely, “honestly.”

_“Well, if you’re sure… Oh, hell, Bob, you can’t change the script that dramatically! The actors are going to murder you when they find out you’re going to dump fake blood all over them-“_

She hung up.

“Since when could you lie, Chris?” Sam asked.

Chris shrugged. “Josh’s mom calls all the time. Josh isn’t always in the mood to answer, so I sometimes do instead. We sound similar enough over the phone that as long as I lisp a little, she can’t tell the difference.”

“Dad can, though,” Josh added.

Laughing, Chris nodded. “That was hilarious. ‘Chris, kiddo, all you gotta do is say Josh isn’t up to talking and I’ll hang up. I’m not Melinda!’”

Josh snickered as well, and the tension was broken a little.

As they explored the new Lodge, they discovered it was essentially the same as the last one, except built much sturdier. There were a few security upgrades as well: the windows had steel shutters, the doors were made of solid steel, and the tunnel leading to the old sanatorium was filled in with concrete.

There were still only six bedrooms, though they didn’t need that many. Chris, Ashley, and Josh claimed the master bedroom, since it had the biggest bed, and the other two couples picked their own rooms. Sam declared she was going to be sleeping on the far end of the hall, so she didn’t have to hear anything she didn’t want to.

They didn’t end up sleeping in their own rooms that first night, though. None of them slept at all. They piled in the living room, put on a movie, and tried to block out the ungodly screeches that echoed through the forest, knowing that most of them would have to go out and interact with the monsters that almost killed them last year.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, they slept until dawn to one in the afternoon.

When they woke, Josh, Jess, Ashley, and Chris went to the panic room to ensure that everything had been installed properly and to get a feel for how it all worked, while the others went to check on the old Sanatorium. They were outfitted with headsets, bodycams, and shotguns. Wolfie was even wearing his specially-made Kevlar jacket that had a camera attached to his left shoulder.

“Alright, when I saw it last, a few rooms had been blown up when Sam rescued me,” Mike said, “and I know at least one died. God knows how many of these fucks are still out here, but I guess we’re about to find out.”

He was shaking again.

“Mike, are you going to be able to aim straight?” Matt asked, touching Mike’s arm gently.

He shrugged. “Once the adrenaline kicks in, sure. I’ll be fine. Let’s just get this over with and hope they’re sleeping.”

“Mic check,” Jess ordered, putting her headphones on, prompting echoes of “check!” from the four going out.

Josh flipped all the cameras on. There were three screens, two of which were linked to various cameras all over the property- except the sanatorium itself- and one of which showed the four’s transmitted bodycam footage.

“Alright, you’re good to go,” Chris said.

“Stay safe!” Ashley added, wringing her hands, “and come back immediately if anyone gets hurt!”

Sam saluted. “Yes ma’am! Alright, guys, let’s move!”

 

Josh watched the screens with his good eye anxiously, chewing on his nails the entire time. It was painful, but that didn’t stop him. He’d had the habit since he was little, and uncomfortable stretching wasn’t going to stop him now.

 _“We’re approaching the sanatorium now,”_ Emily announced, voice crackling a little bit through the speakers, _“no sign of activity yet- no, never mind.”_

 _“Found one of the three construction workers,”_ Matt explained, and aimed his body camera at it, _“mostly eaten. Face is intact, so identification should be pretty easy. Either the wendigoes we didn’t kill got to him, or we’ve got at least one more of them up here.”_

“We already suspected that,” Jess replied, “leave it for now and pick the body up when you’re on your way back.”

The field team moved on.

A thought occurred to Josh, and he frowned. “Not to distract anyone, but if… Hannah wasn’t the wendigo that was feeding me, what was?”

Nobody spoke for a long moment.

 _“Jesus, Josh,”_ Mike eventually said, _“don’t spring shit like that on us while we’re about to dive into danger.”_

“Sorry-”

 _“Don’t apologize, it’s a valid question,”_ Emily interrupted. _“Ash, you’re the one who actually read the journal before it got destroyed. Was there anything indicating that wendigoes had some sort of pack structure?”_

Ashley frowned. “No, not really. It said that Makkapitew was the strongest of them all, but it didn’t really say why. Well, the guy said his grandpa said that it was probably the, like, I dunno, patient zero of the wendigo curse.”

“He also said that anyone who eats human flesh gets possessed by a wendigo spirit and eventually becomes one,” Chris pointed out, “and look at us. We’re only halfway transformed.”

 _“He was working with myth and legend, Chris,”_ Sam argued, though her voice was muffled.

Jess grumbled, “Adjust your mic, I can barely hear you.”

 Sam adjusted her mic and repeated herself.

 _“Look, can we talk about this later?”_ Mike asked irritably, _“we’re about to enter the sanatorium, and I would like to focus on not dying right now. Thanks!”_

 

Mike was supposed to be leading the way through the sanatorium, since he’d been in there before. In reality, he was following Wolfie, who knew the place better than he ever would.

Wolfie huffed at an eerily dark hallway.

“Bet there’s some in here,” Matt breathed. “It’s daylight; it shouldn’t be that dark down that hall unless something covered up the windows.”

“Are they smart enough for that?” Emily asked.

Sam shrugged. “I dunno. Should we go in or leave it alone?”

 _“I hate to say it,”_ Jess said, her voice echoing through four earpieces, _“but you should go in. Freeze immediately if you see anything, or shoot it if it jumps for you. You know the drill.”_

Wolfie growled at them as they reluctantly went into the dark hallway with weapons raised and cocked.

“I know, bud, but we gotta,” Mike whispered.

Wolfie sat down, his ears rotating and flicking nervously, and refused to follow. Mike didn’t try to convince him, but took it as a bad omen of what was ahead.

“Guys, be careful,” he said as loudly as he dared.

Their earpieces crackled as one, and Ashley reminded them, _“please place the cameras as you go. We want this place wired properly, remember? But get out of there if you’re attacked.”_

“We know the drill,” Sam replied kindly.

As they set up cameras every few feet, they passed by the windows and noticed that all of them were blocked with sheets of wood and held up with piles of furniture. Very little sunlight seeped through at all. 

“I think that maybe the wendigoes _did_ block these,” Matt said, “cause when we met that stranger, he seemed like a pretty thorough person, and he wouldn’t let sunlight in at all.”

Emily nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, and they’re not nailed shut. Guess they’re smart enough to close the windows, but not smart enough to use a nail gun.”

Jess agreed, _“yeah, and they were probably desperate to make the light go away. If me and Josh just plain dislike it, I can only imagine how uncomfortable-”_

 _“Or painful,”_ Josh interjected.

_“- or painful it must be.”_

“Look, I don’t care why they block the windows,” Mike hissed, “I want to set up these cameras and get out of here. This place gives me the heebie jeebies.”

 

Josh kept chewing on his nails.

Chris covered his mic. “Dude, quit that. You’re gonna make them bleed again. Don’t think I won’t find a water bottle to spray you with until you quit. You know I’ll do it.”

Josh did know. Hannah and Beth had paid Chris in candy to spray him every time he caught Josh chewing on his nails all of sixth grade. Chris had taken quite a delight in doing so, too.

He forced his hands down to the table.

Ashley handed him a piece of jerky to chew on instead, and Josh gave her a grateful smile. It ended up being slightly less painful on his perpetually-sore mouth and gums, and he resumed his worried chewing.

Suddenly, the cameras stopped moving.

 

The four of them tried very hard to not breathe as they stood in the doorway and took in the sight before them.

Several long-limbed bodies were piled on top of each other, breathing softly. Every so often, one would kick out a leg or toss out an arm and hit another, prompting a brief snarl before settling again.

 _“Slowly,”_ Chris whispered over their mics, _“walk backwards.”_

They did, but fate was not with them, as the topmost wendigo opened its eyes as they took their first backwards step.

The four of them froze.

 _“Shit,”_ Ashley hissed over their earphones.

The wendigo tilted its head and stared at them directly. It clumsily extracted itself from the pile of wendigoes, and stalked towards them, sniffing.

It screeched, waking another Wendigo briefly. The second wendigo hissed and threw a loose brick at the first, hitting it square on the shoulder. The first one spun around and screamed again, but instead of mauling it like the survivors expected, it curled up on top of the second one and went back to sleeping.

The four of them moved as quickly as they dared until they got back to Wolfie, and then they bolted back to the Lodge.

 

“What the fuck,” Emily gasped, “just fucking happened?”

“I thought it was gonna start a fight with the other wendigo!” Ashley said, “I mean, they did last year, so why not now? And I thought they were loners, but they were sleeping like, like-”

“It was a puppy pile,” Jess said quietly. “They were sleeping in a puppy pile.”

Nobody spoke for a long moment. How many of their new habits were from the isolation of being on the mountain for a month, alone? How much of it was wendigo instinct? How much, exactly, did they change when they gave in and ate Baker and Jackson?

Mike recovered first. “Jesus Christ in hell’s hand basket, this is insane.”

“How about we take a break for now, and continue this tomorrow?” Matt offered. “We have six months until our higher-ups come to check on us, so we have time to mess around and ease ourselves into this.”

“Not a bad idea,” Sam agreed. “Let’s continue tomorrow. Let’s have the team be me, Chris, Matt, and Emily. We’ll start an hour after dawn, and we’ll take Chris’ flamethrower.”

With that, they settled down to watch a movie and sleep.

 

Josh woke up as the sun set. This was pretty normal for him now. Usually, he didn’t get up and tried to go back to sleep- with varying degrees of success- but he discovered that he couldn’t that night, and slipped out onto the enclosed porch.

A few minutes later, Chris joined him, carrying two mugs of hot chocolate.

“Hey,” he said, and handed Josh one.

“Why aren’t you asleep?” Josh asked, but took the mug without protest.

Chris shrugged. “I was having a hard time sleeping anyway, and when you woke up I figured you might like some company. I know you hate being alone, bro.”

Josh smiled into his mug. “Yeah.”

“So, what’s up?” Chris asked, plopping down onto the wicker loveseat. “Usually you don’t get up when you wake up.”

“Yeah, I was just- I’m really worried, Chris,” Josh confessed.

Chris sat up straight, and gave him a concerned look. “About what? I mean, I guess I understand worrying about the wendigoes, considering how dangerous they are, but we’re all trained now. We’re gonna be okay.”

“It’s not that,” Josh said, shaking his head. “What if you guys start remembering the awful prank I pulled? What if everyone starts hating me because of it? What if my meds stop working and I lose it again? What if-?”

“Bro,” Chris said, setting his mug down and putting his hands on Josh’s shoulders. “I’m going to tell you a secret, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Nobody ever forgot the prank.”

Josh’s eyes widened, and he glanced fearfully at the door.

“No, look, Josh.” Chris squeeze Josh’s shoulders gently. “Nobody forgot about the prank, but they forgave you. We may not all really understand why you did it, but those of us who don’t know, know that you were off your meds and not really thinking straight. I can’t speak for them, but the thing that hurt _me_ the most about the whole thing was that either you didn’t come to me for help, or you did and I didn’t recognize it.”

“But… we wouldn’t even have been in this hellhole if not for me,” Josh protested.

Chris shrugged. “Yeah, that’s true. But you got the shittiest end of the stick, so I don’t think anyone cares about that now.”

Josh looked up at Chris through his eyelashes. “…you’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” Chris confirmed. “Now drink your hot chocolate.”

They sat in silence, drinking their hot chocolate. When their mugs were drained, they stood and started towards the door, but were stopped by a loud, hollow-sounding _thunk_ noise.

“What was that?” Josh whispered.

Chris didn’t respond.

They waited a long moment, and turned very slowly to the source of the awful and sudden noise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long!!! i had an... obnoxious week....... i'll try to keep updating AT LEAST once a week.


	6. Chapter 6

There was no wendigo in sight, the forest was lively with the sounds of owls and wolves, and there was a half-eaten corpse lying on the steps leading up to the front porch.

“What the hell…?” 

Mike and Sam burst onto the porch, shotguns raised.

“What was that noise?” Mike demanded.

Chris motioned to the door to the front steps helplessly. Sam crept forward, never dropping her aim, and peered out between the bars on the door. She reeled back when it registered what she was seeing.

“What?” Mike demanded, and joined her at the door.

“It’s the construction worker we found outside the sanatorium,” she answered faintly. “We were so panicked we forgot to pick him up and take him back.”

“That doesn’t explain why he’s on the fucking porch!” Mike shouted, pointing.

Josh let out an ugly, wet laugh, and sat down on the floor where he stood. “Oh, god. I get it. I know what’s happening. This is unreal. This isn’t real. This is a fucked up dream or a hallucination. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening!”

Chris knelt down. “Josh, take a breather. You took your meds. This is real. It’s fucked up and none of us like it, but it is. What do you think is going on, bro?”

“They want” Josh hiccupped, “they want to feed us. It’s like- Remember how Hannah’s cat was always putting dead mice on her pillow? It’s trying to feed us.”

Chris stared at him in horror and said, “They recognize us as them.”

“God,” Sam whispered. 

Mike shook his head violently. “No. we’re not doing this right now. We are going inside and putting on the dumbest fucking romcom or comedy movie we have, and we’re gonna laugh and pretend this didn’t happen. We can deal with it in the morning.”

“Putting this off won’t help, Mike,” Sam snapped. “And we can’t leave the body outside. What if the wendigoes decide to finish him off? His poor family’s already going to have to have a closed casket funeral! The least we can do is give them a real body!”

Mike threw his hands up. “Fine! Alright, let’s… drag it onto the porch. We’ll send for a pickup team in the morning.”

They moved quickly; Mike opened the door, and Sam dragged the body inside. Once his feet cleared the doorway, Mike slammed the door shut and relocked it. 

Sam’s fingers lingered on the corpse’s shoulders, and her mouth watered involuntarily.  

“Sam?” Chris said, nudging her.

She leapt back, staring at the body with a horrified expression.

“What’s wrong?” Mike asked warily.

“I” she swallowed, and tore her gaze from the exposed flesh of the body’s chest. “I need to go inside.”

 

Sam found a quiet corner in one of the spare bedrooms, and wedged herself into the back of the closet. Head in her hands, she tried to sift through what the hell had just happened on the porch.

She was vegan, and had been since she was twelve. She’d _never_ had the temptation to eat meat except when she was starving during the month they were trapped on the mountain. She’d abandoned her morals in favor of survival then, but she didn’t need to anymore.

So why had she wanted to rip into the man on the porch?

“What the fuck is happening?” she whispered to herself, “this cannot happening.”

A knock on the door startled her. “Sam? Can I come in?”

“I’m fine, Josh,” she called, hoping her voice didn’t sound shaky.

“…That’s not what I asked. Can I come in?”

She sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

He crept in quietly and sat down just outside the closet door. He didn’t say anything for a long time, he just stared at the wall and chewed on his nails.

“You thought about it too,” he said, finally looking at her.

Sam grit her teeth and shook her head. “I didn’t want to! I don’t know why it even occurred to me. I haven’t wanted to eat meat or eggs or _anything_ since I was _twelve!_ ”

“But you had to last year,” Josh pointed out, “otherwise you would’ve died.”

“But I might not have,” she said quietly, “I- I could have survived until Mike found that shack with the MREs. He could have found it without me.”

Josh shook his head. “You can’t think of what-ifs. Those’ll drive you crazy. Trust me, I’m our expert on crazy.”

She frowned at him.

“What I’m trying to say is,” Josh continued, “you’re not a bad person, Sam. So what, you thought about eating a dead body? So did I, so did Chris. Ten bucks said Mike did too, but you’ll never get Mr. Class Pres to cop to it.”

Sam snorted.

Josh grinned. “There’s our resilient Sammy. Alright, so if you come back downstairs, I’ll make you a shaved ice cone. Dad made sure we had one of those machines, since mom always forgets you’re vegan.”

 

The next morning was much easier on all of them. The field team went into the sanatorium and placed the rest of the cameras without running into a wendigo pile, the comm team figured out the best way to relay information back and forth, and Ashley managed to turn part of the kitchen into a miniature surgery room.

Unfortunately, the good mood was ruined when the field team returned and Sam forced them all to sit down at the kitchen table, and discuss business.

“Look, we can’t just keep letting them roam around,” she insisted, “we need to contain them or some idiot is going to wander into their territory and get turned into dinner.”

“We’re gonna need a plan, first,” Ashley pointed out. “A solid one, so nobody gets hurt.”

“We could try herding them,” Mike offered.

“Yeah, and die horrifically in the process,” Emily replied, rolling her eyes.

He scowled at her. “Well, do _you_ have any great ideas?”

Emily nodded primly and said, “Let’s lure them into place.”

Sam nodded slowly. “Yeah, that could work. But with what? Do these things even eat anything but humans? I’d really rather not use the corpse on the front porch, but I suppose if we have to…”

Josh shook his head. “Nah, let’s send that poor bastard home. I’ve got a better idea. As much as I hate to bring it up, I’m very good with special effects. It wouldn’t be too much trouble to rig something up.”

 After he finished speaking, he refused to look up and took in the silence.

“Hey, um.” Mike coughed. “You know, I dunno about the rest of these assholes, but… I forgave you for that shit. It was fucked up, yeah, but nobody like, died or anything. We got hurt, but that wasn’t you, that was the wendigoes.”

Josh lifted his head a little, and furrowed his brows. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jess added, “I thought you knew? You fucked up, but you were also off your meds and still grieving for your sisters. I forgave you ages ago.”

Chris nudged him, grinning. “I told you so.”

Emily scoffed. “I haven’t forgiven you. If we hadn’t come back here, we wouldn’t be in this shitty situation.”

“I’m sorry,” Josh said quietly.

“I know,” she replied airily, “which is why I’m not angry with you. Quit acting like a kicked dog, for god’s sake, and tell us what you’re going to need for this rig so we can go get it from town. There _is_ a hardware store in town, right?”

 

It had taken them a week to gut a block of cells in the sanatorium. There were a few close calls, but since they worked in the day and barricaded the doors leading to the rest of the building very carefully, they were mostly safe.

 _“Alright, cells one through six ready to go,”_ Josh said confidently, _“just waiting for an isolated Wendy now. If someone could rile one up, that’d be nice.”_

Sam, who was one of three still in the sanatorium for the mission, sucked in a calming breath, and screamed.

_“That did it, thanks!”_

A wendigo barreled past her, and then a second scream echoed through the halls. This one was tinnier, and accompanied by movement. The wendigo darted down the hallway after the vaguely human-shaped dummy hanging from the ceiling. 

At the last second, the pig meat dummy jerked to the side, and into a cell. The wendigo followed, leaping onto the dummy and ripping it apart with a deafening scream.

Mike slammed the door shut.

 _"Hook, line, and sinker!”_ Josh cheered.

“One down, however many to go…” Mike muttered, grinning.

Emily, who was the last of the three in the sanatorium, said, “Can I try something?”

 _“Is it dangerous?”_ Josh asked nervously.

“Possibly,” she replied with a shrug that he saw through a camera, “I’ve got Mike and Sam to back me up if it goes wrong, though.”

 _“Please be careful,”_ Ashley told her, _“everyone almost died here before, and I won’t have anyone die now.”_

Emily didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled out her phone, cranked the volume as high as it would go, and pulled up her music library.

_Like, give up, it’s me, I win, you lose_

“Emily, are you serious?” Sam asked, deadpan.

She grinned and held her phone high.

_I’m a bad bitch, imma, imma bad bitch!_

Sam sighed, and Josh set one of the pig-meat dummies to move. The combination of Nicki Minaj and the movement attracted a wendigo, and Mike and Emily slammed the door after it.

 

That night, they trapped a total of three wendigoes locked up in the cells. All of the cells led to the center chamber of the building, which had been incredibly difficult to fortify, but Mike and Matt were certain that they had blocked up any means of escape.

Just in case, though, they set up patrols for every night, and placed an order for more cameras to install.

“For now, though, let’s celebrate!” Josh cried, standing on top of a chair, “a toast! To our first night without running into problems and having miniature heart attacks!”

Seven cheers spread across the room, and drinks were raised merrily.

“Three down, however many to go!” Mike said, “We should be able to get all of the ones currently on the mountain locked up soon enough! Most of them are in the sanatorium anyway, probably. The rest are in the mines, and with Josh’s genius rigging, we’ll have them looking like those little race dogs that chase those fake rabbit things.”

Jess snickered. “Do you mean greyhounds?”

Mike snapped and pointed at her. “That’s what they’re called!”

“Hey, someone should take the recording of me fucking with that one and post it on YouTube,” Emily suggested.

“Holy shit,” Chris replied, “won’t that piss off the higher ups? Like, that would be counted as spreading information, wouldn’t it?”

“Fuck it,” Matt replied, “they _forced_ us to be here. We’re the only ones who know how to deal with these fuckers. They need us. They can deal with us having as much fun as we’re capable of having. Post it.”

“Post it!” Jess agreed. “Do it!”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Sam said, “I mean, what if they dock our pay?”

Ashley shook her head. “I think Scully and Mulder like us too much to let them do that. I get the feeling that they get into trouble more than we do, and Mulder said he put us on the same salary that he and Scully are on.”

Sam sighed. “If anyone asks, I tried to talk you out of it.”

 

Chris posted it, titling it “Crazy Teen Girl Plays Nicki Minaj To Lure A Demon”. It gets 10,000 hits overnight, and Nicki Minaj retweets a link to the video with the caption “Wow this is super creepy! you go girl, youre braver than me!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, updates are gonna be on thrusdays from now on!
> 
> edit: i was looking it over, and i realized not having phone and mic convos italicized was really, really ugly looking. i fixed it.


	7. Chapter 7

Soon enough, seven of the wendigoes that lived in the sanatorium had been caught and secured. There was still at least one still loose, as the eight survivors kept waking up to various corpses on the front steps. Most of them were deer or elk corpses, but there had been a very desiccated human corpse left one morning.

Chris had called it in to the local authorities- turned out it was a teenager that had been dared to stay up on the mountain overnight, and vanished without a trace.

On a whim, Chris asked how many teenagers had gone missing for similar reasons.

_“Oh, lots. There’s at least a good handful every year. Usually tourist kids from the ski lodge a few miles from your location. We can send a guy up to pick up the poor bastard you found, if you like?”_

“No, we’ll bring him to you,” Chris said hurriedly, “due to the nature of our job, it’s best if we minimize the amount of people on this mountain. Do you think you could make some sort of announcement that this is dangerous grounds and that people should stay away?”

_“Sure, we can do that. Say, what even is your job? It’s been driving the boys here crazy, wondering what the feds want with that mountain.”_

The eight of them had devised a story for this event, and it had been approved by Mulder, Scully, and AD Skinner: the truth. Chris liked being the one to admit it, since he thought the formality was hilarious.

In his most official-sounding voice, he said, “We’re with the X-Files unit, and we’re investigating a case involving creatures indigenous to Mount Blackwood.”

To his surprise, the officer seemed to understand what he was talking about. _“Wait, don’t tell me you’re investigating rumors of wendigoes? That shit ain’t real, you know.”_

Chris rolled his eyes. “We’re just doing our job, sir. Me and one of my partners will be down sometime this afternoon to drop off the body. And if you could compile all the missing persons reports involving Mount Blackwood? Thank you.”

He hung up, and tapped his mic. “Guys, I think we might have another problem.”

 _“Jesus, what now?”_ Emily complained.

“Idiot teenagers staying on the mountain overnight as a dare.”

There was static, and then several groans.

 _“Fuck, of course there’s gonna be stupid kids climbing up here and staying on the spooky mountain overnight. Don’t people watch horror movies anymore? That’s the number one way to die,”_ Mike said.

 _“How are we going to keep them away?”_ Ashley asked. _“Fences are useless, we all know that. I suppose we could set up a patrol, but that’s a lot of mountain to cover overnight, and by the time we’d find anyone, they’d be dead.”_

Chris shrugged, and then remembered that they couldn’t see him. “Well, I told the local PD to make an announcement that the grounds are dangerous, so maybe that’ll cut down on the missing persons reports? Oh, speaking of, I asked them to make copies of all the recent missing person reports they have, so can someone come into town with me to drop off this corpse and pick those up?”

 

Chris, Ashley, and Sam decided against taking the ATVs, since it would be difficult to carry a body like that. Instead, they bundled what was left of the corpse into a white sheet, and set it in the bed of the truck.

“Pick up some milk while you’re down there,” Josh said, leaning on the driver side window, “I’m going crazy up here with just water and alcohol to drink.”

“We have apple juice and orange juice, Josh,” Ashley said laughingly.

He pouted, pleading wordlessly.

“Oh, alright, we’ll pick up some milk,” Chris grumbled from the passenger seat.

Josh beamed, and kissed Ashley’s cheek. “Pass that on to Chris, would you, darling?”

“Of course, pumpkin,” Ashley replied, and leaned over to kiss Chris’ cheek.

“Alright, alright, lovebirds, let’s get this show on the road,” Sam complained from the bed of the truck, “before I freeze to death and you have two bodies in the bed of this truck.”

“Mwah, mwah, mwah,” Josh said amidst Ashley’s laughter as he laid overly dramatic kisses on her cheek.

Chris laughed. “Okay, Josh, we get it. And don’t do anything stupid until I get back.”

Beaming, Josh said, “How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

Ashley shook her head and rolled her window up. Josh stepped back as she started the car, and waved as they rolled down the path. After they were out of sight, Sam tapped on the window.

Chris opened it. “Is it just me, or does Josh finally sound like he’s feeling better?”

“He’s quoting movies more often,” Sam said, “I think that’s a pretty significant sign that he is. Did you give him that opportunity intentionally, Chris?”

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s just an old habit. Back when Captain America first came out, he watched that movie like a thousand times in a month, and of course I did too, because he had it playing in the background constantly and we were pretty much inseparable. Any time one of us would leave, we’d say it as a joke, and eventually it became like, a thing?”

Sam snorted. “Well, either way, I’m glad.”

“Me too.”

 

When they finally arrived at the local town, and found the police station, Sam was a little grumpy, and scared more than a few of the locals, including a few officers. The three of them flashed their badges at the officers, putting them mostly at ease. They still seemed wary of Sam, however.

“Uh, Ma’am,” one said nervously as she hopped out of the bed of the truck, “we, uh, don’t have a morgue in the station. There’s one in the clinic down the street.”

 Sam groaned. “Chris, my ass is sore from riding all the way here in the back of the truck. You take it the rest of the way, I’ll pick up the missing persons reports.”

“Who the hell made you mission leader?” Chris complained, but took her previous seat.

She scoffed. “I did, because you’re more likely to catch something on fire than I am. Ashley’s just along as medical assistance and to try to keep you in line.”

Ashley started the truck and started driving away while Chris spluttered.

“Fuck you!” he called, once he finally recovered.

“Not my thing!” She shouted back.

An officer coughed. “Ma’am? I’ve been told to show you to the records room.”

Sam frowned. “Didn’t Chris tell you to print off copies for us hours ago?”

The officer rubbed the back of his head. “Well, see, that’s a lot more difficult than it sounds, unfortunately. This is a tourist destination, after all.”

Sam followed him into the small station, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed after her. The locals weren’t very subtle about it, after all. She could only imagine what they’d sound like if Josh, Mike, and Emily had come down instead of the three most normal-looking of their crew.

“Here it is,” the officer announced, interrupting her thoughts. “Sorry for the mess, but the tourist season just ended. It takes a few months to get caught up with filing.”

Her jaw dropped.

There were filing cabinets lining the walls, and three ceiling-high shelves stuffed with boxes. A single table stood a few feet in front of the door, stacked with folders and loose papers.

“How far back do your records go?” she asked faintly.

The officer shrugged. “The fifties, I think? Back when the mines on Blackwood collapsed, and those poor miners got trapped. I can’t imagine what they went through, being buried in those dark tunnels for so long.”

Sam was suddenly very glad she’d convinced Jessica to stay at the lodge. “I know what you mean. Thank you, officer, that’ll be all.”

He left, and Sam started shifting through the loose papers on the table.

 

An hour later, after she’d recruited Chris and Ashley into helping her sort the most recent files into something they could take back to the lodge, she got a phone call.

She answered without looking at the number. “Hello, this is Agent-“

Jess interrupted her, _“Josh is gone!”_

Sam jerked upright from her slouch. “What?”

 _“Josh is gone,”_ she repeated. _“He was playing catch with Wolfie on the front lawn, and he’s gone. Wolfie came and got us, barking up a storm, and lead us to the entrance to the mines. I think either something went wrong with his meds and he went back on his own, or a wendigo got him even though it’s daylight.”_

“What’s going on?” Chris asked anxiously.

Sam ignored him and started shoving papers haphazardly into a box. “Alright, has anyone started searching?”

_“Yeah, Mike, Matt, and Emily are already in the mines. They’re keeping me updated verbally. You guys need to get up here, though. I need eyes, and they can’t split up since there’s three of them.”_

“Alright, we’re on our way,” Sam assured her, and hung up.

“What’s going on?” Chris demanded again.

Sam took a steadying breath. “Josh is in the mines again.”

Chris and Ashley both stood and wordlessly joined her in shoving papers into a box.

 

They got back to the lodge in half the time it took them to get to town. Ashley reluctantly joined Jessica in the comm room, while Sam and Chris geared up.

 _“We heard him,”_ Matt said as soon as their mics were online, _“but we can’t get to that part of the mines from where we are now. Take the entrance by the cabin, and you should get to him pretty quick if you just follow the main mineshaft.”_

“Alright, thanks, Matt,” Sam replied, “if you guys can talk to him, stay there and keep him company. If you can’t, go ahead and get out of there.”

 _“I’ve got him,”_ Mike said, _“I’ll keep Wolfie with me. You two go on and get out. Don’t think I haven’t seen you two shaking like leaves in a hurricane.”_

Matt and Emily started back towards the lodge, and Sam and Chris started towards the mines.

“Alright, Mike, tell us what’s going on, please?”

_“Well, Josh says that he got grabbed by a wendigo. None of us are sure on why or how it was out at midafternoon, but honestly? He’s a little too scratched up to be lying. No, Josh, I didn’t think you were lying, relax.”_

“Tell him we’re on our way. We’ll be there really soon.”

Mike spoke softly to Josh while Sam and Chris pushed the ATVs as fast as they could go without tipping over when they turned. They arrived at the opening to the mines very quickly, but slowed down once inside. It was a bit of a walk to where Josh was, and Chris nearly bolted to him once he saw hi,

 _“Stop,”_ Mike hissed at them.

They froze.

 _“There’s a trio of wendys right above you,”_ Mike explained, _“Josh is saying that those are the ones that nabbed him. What’s weird, though is that-“_

One of them leapt down and sat next to Josh, staring at him.

Chris glowered, and readied his flamethrower.

“No, I’m not fucking eating it!” Josh shouted at it, point at a leg on the ground, “I’m not a helpless kitten, and I’m not gonna turn into one of you!”

“Josh, what the fuck,” Sam hissed.

He looked over at them and beamed. “Hey! Cochise, Sammy! Hold still, I’ll be right over, okay? There’s something weird going on, and I’m trying very, very hard to keep it together. I’ll explain later.”

Slowly, Josh stood, and after yelling wordlessly at the wendigoes, joined Sam and Chris.

“Alright, walk slowly, and stay right by me,” he told them. “Mike, you good?”

 _“I’m good,”_ he replied softly, _“me and Wolfie will meet up with you back at the lodge.”_

Sam and Chris werevery careful to keep Josh’s pace through the mines. Josh talked the entire way to the entrance, about nothing in particular, and Chris did his best to respond. As long as Josh was talking, he wasn’t panicking, and that was what was important.

“Will we be safe to use the ATVs when we’re out of the mine?” Sam asked him softly.

Josh shrugged. “I don’t see why not. They stopped following us a little while ago, and I’ve only seen one other than them. So, yeah, I think it should be safe.”

Chris made Josh sit behind him, and Josh clung to him like an octopus the entire ride back to the lodge.

When they arrived, Ashley yanked them both inside, and hugged Josh fiercely. “Are you alright? Where are you hurt? God, I hope you don’t need stitches, my hands are shaking so hard they’d probably be crooked…”

“Nah, I don’t think I need stitches,” Josh assured her, much calmer now that he was safely locked indoors, “just a few bumps and scrapes.”

Still, Ashley tugged and pushed Josh until he was sitting in her make-shift clinic, and started checking him over.

Soon, Mike and Wolfie arrived, and sat down with the rest of them in the kitchen/clinic. He stared at Josh tiredly for a long time, before finally asking;

“Why didn’t the wendigoes want to hurt Josh?”

 


	8. Chapter 8

They all turned to Josh expectantly.

“Well, uh…” Josh gulped. “I sort of have an idea, and I don’t like it, and it creeps me out, but it’s the only thing I can think of.”

Ashley put her hand on his forearm. “Josh, we won’t judge you, I promise. Whatever the reason is, it’s probably not your fault.”

Josh smiled weakly. “Well, I think there’s like, I dunno, two strains of wendigo? Or maybe not strains, but like, sets. Cause like, I’ve been watching the recordings a lot with Ash to see if there’s any behavior patterns. So we can track them, you know? And-”

“Josh, you’re rambling,” Mike said gently.

“Sorry,” Josh said, cringing, “um, while I was in the mines just now, I noticed that they were wearing different clothes and they acted way, way different from the ones in the sanatorium.”

“They were hardly wearing clothes at all,” Emily protested.

“No, I know! But what was left of the scraps they _were_ wearing was like…” he frowned, thinking. “I dunno, one looked like it was wearing a hoodie. I kind of only noticed cause it was pretty bright orange, but like. It was clearly a hoodie.”

“Oh!” Chris exclaimed. “The missing persons reports! Sam, I remember seeing a photo of a girl wearing an orange hoodie!”

Sam stared at the two of them, horrified. “You think the wendigoes in the mines are kids who’ve gone missing over the years? Guys, if you’re right…”

Emily frowned. “If they’re right, who knows how many are down there.”

“We know there’s at least three,” Mike said.

“Four,” Chris corrected. “We saw another one on our way out of the mines. I bet- this is going to sound morbid, I know- that we’ll be able to identify all of the wendigoes if we go through the missing persons reports.”

“Alright, but that doesn’t explain why they didn’t want to hurt Josh,” Jess interrupted. “I mean, Ash said they looked awfully upset with you and Mike, but not Josh.”

“No, it makes sense,” Matt admitted. “If the wendys in the mines used to be teenagers that got lost in the mines, then when they saw Josh, they might have thought that _he_ was lost. They’re not stupid, they’re just not intelligent in the human sense. They see a lone human, and maybe they recognize what they once were? If they think he’s lost, they might have thought they needed to help him. Aside from the one mean fucker last year, all of the wendigoes seem to hang out together, so maybe they were, I dunno, trying to adopt him?”

Nobody spoke for a long moment.

“Jesus Christ,” Mike groaned. “This is too much.”

Sam turned to Matt. “Wait, what makes you think they’re intelligent?”

Matt shrugged. “Well, Wolfie’s smart, and he’s technically a wild animal. He’s a wolf, no matter how much we pretend he’s a dog.

Emily nodded slowly. “The wendys act a lot like weird wolf-dogs, since they sleep together, but don’t hunt together, and only attack certain other wendigoes- the ones that don’t belong to them, to their… Well, their ‘pack’, I guess.”

“They’re right,” Ashley confirmed. “I thought I was seeing things until now- we all know how my imagination is- but they do seem to at least sort of know what’s going on. It’s entirely possible that they, like, saw themselves in us.”

“But shouldn’t they be attacking us?” Emily demanded. “I mean, we’re not wendigoes!”

Mike shook his head. “No, we’re not. But we’re not fully human, either. Fuck, this makes too much sense. I think we need to test it a little further just to make sure, but that can wait. Let’s take the rest of the day to calm down again and come back to this later.”

Murmurs of agreement echoed around him, and the eight of them split up.

 

Three days later, Josh volunteered to go back into the mines to see if the wendigoes would attack him or try to feed him. Chris demanded that he go along too, with his flamethrower, and would not be persuaded to stay behind.

“I left you once, bro,” he had said grimly. “I won’t let you down again.”

And that was that. Chris accompanied Josh into the mines with his flamethrower ready but not lit. Josh didn’t want to scare the wendigoes away, and even the pilot light for the flamethrower could spook them.

“This is an awful idea,” Chris mumbled.

“You can go back to the lodge any time, Cochise,” Josh replied with clearly false bravado.

“No I can’t,” he replied simply.

Josh nudged his arm. “Thanks, Chris.”

“This is still an awful idea,” Chris repeated, “Yeah, let’s just wander directly into wendigo territory, that’s a great idea! It’s okay, we’re wendigo enough for them to not eat us, and teenager enough for them to try to _feed us instead!”_

Josh waved at him dismissively.

Chris scoffed at the motion and shook his head. “Josh, I’m serious, this is an awful idea and I can’t believe Mike went for it, let alone Sam-”

Something moved in the corner of josh’s blind eye. “Chris, shut up. We’ve got a wendy.”

The wendigo crawled into sight of his good eye, and Josh took a moment to identify it. It was wearing a few scraps of bright orange cloth around its neck, and there was a tattoo on its ankle of a dragon.

That meant that this one was Dora Foster. She was one of four kids that disappeared three years ago after her friends dragged her up the mountain as a group dare. Only one kid had made it back, and he had babbled about monsters the entire time he was in custody.

“Hey, Dora,” Josh said cautiously.

The wendigo twisted her head to look at him in a flash.

“Yeah, I know your name,” Josh told her, trying to keep his voice from wavering, “please don’t attack me or Chris will be very mad.”

Dora crept closer to him, sniffing. She reached out one spindly hand to touch him, and gently ran her claws down his shoulder.

Chris was tense, and his finger was sitting on the trigger for the flame.

“It’s alright, Chris, she’s just curious,” Josh said, breathless and pale. “It’s alright, it’s alright. Chris, tell me it’s alright?”

“It’s alright,” Chris lied.

Dora looked at him now, and sniffed. Her face screwed up and she growled.

Josh snarled back and grabbed Chris’ shoulder. “Mine!”

There was a brief moment where nothing happened. Chris ran through all the scenarios in his head, and the ones where he and Josh died stuck out most prominently.

And then Dora backed off. It was over.

 _“Get back to the lodge now,”_ Jess commanded. _“We got our proof, there’s no need for you two to stay down there.”_

Josh didn’t let go of Chris’ shoulder the entire walk out of the mines and back to the lodge. He only let go when they were locked back inside the lodge and Ashley was close enough to hug.

 

“Alright,” Mike said over dinner, “So the mine wendigoes know that we’re part wendigo too. And they recognize Josh’s authority over Chris, at the least. That still leaves us at a loss at how to capture them, though.”

Josh said nothing, too drained from his ‘adventure’. Ashley and Chris were on either side of him, and none of them seemed willing to untwist from each other.

“We’ll have to build something,” Emily said finally. “We can’t use the mines. Those are too twisty and unstable. Plus, we don’t know that they can’t dig their way out of whatever we manage to jury rig. We’ll have to lure them up to the surface like we did the miners, and then trap them someplace secure.”

Matt nodded. “We could hire a crew to build us a tiny prison. Maybe even requisition it through Mulder and Scully?”

“We could do that,” Jess agreed, “but there’s the chance that the higher ups won’t give that to us until we have proof of a way to capture wendigoes. They might even want to see the ones we’ve already caught.”

Ashley sighed. “That’s not a chance, that’s a definite. Mulder called earlier to warn us that there’s gonna be an inspection at our six month mark.”

“But that’s in a few weeks!” Chris protested. “We’ve got at least four wendigoes on the loose and no way to hold them! We can’t have stupid bureaucrats up here! They’ll be killed!”

“Not if we plan it carefully,” Sam said, and stood up. “We’ll have to plan out their whole itinerary. Ash, call Mulder back and get him to send us information about what they’re going to inspect and who they’re bringing with them. Matt, Mike, Emily, you three are on sanatorium duty right now. Chris, Josh, you two make some preliminary plans for the jail, including lures for the wendys. Oh, call your mother and see if you can get her to front they money? Jess, you and I are going to spend the rest of the day hunting for locations.”

Emily looked like she wanted to argue.

Mike noticed, and clapped his hands to cut her off before she began. “Alright. Let’s go, people!”

They split up, and got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry, this is a short chapter. i tried to get some more in, but it wasn't happening. i've got the next chapter about 2/3 done already though, so hopefully that'll be out soon!

**Author's Note:**

> hey, just so everyone knows, i'm always up to talk about this fic and what you want to see these idiot teenagers do over at queenwendigo.tumblr.com


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